In this, the penultimate (and also next-to-last) look at team power rankings before the end of the season, Tigers players have accumulated 118.9 Box-Toppers points. They were the hottest team in the American League during the past week, picking up 6.2 Box-Toppers points. In addition, the three top AL players in Box-Toppers points are Tigers:

Pitcher Max Scherzer has 17.1 Box-Toppers points, leads all AL players and is in sixth place overall in player rankings.

Pitcher Anibal Sanchez has 17.1 points and is in seventh place overall in player rankings.

Third baseman Miguel Cabrera has 16.9 points, leads all AL batters and is in eight place overall in player rankings.

This marks a return to the top spot for the Tigers. They were in first in Box-Toppers rankings for four straight weeks, the last time Aug. 29, before losing the top spot to the surging Dodgers the past two weeks.

The Dodgers remain the top National League team with 117.7 Box-Toppers points, though they only scored 2.5 over the past week, falling from first to second place overall.

The
hottest team of the past week, the San Diego Padres, picked up 7.7 Box-Toppers points and now have 79.3 points, in 22nd place overall.

Several teams contending for playoff berths had relatively bad weeks. The New York Yankees picked up only 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving them 96.7 in 14th place overall. The Texas Rangers picked up only 2.0 Box-Toppers points, giving them 104.0, slipping from eighth to 10th in rankings. The Atlanta Braves also picked up only 2.0 Box-Toppers points, giving them 101.5, slipping from 10th to 11th place.

The
team with the
best actual winning percentage, the Boston Red Sox (.604), maintained their spot in third place in Box-Toppers power rankings and are 1.7 points behind the Tigers, within striking distance of catching them during the upcoming final week of the season.

The Braves have the best actual record in the NL (.592), but are in 11th place in Box-Toppers rankings, behind four other NL teams.

The Box-Toppers-power-rankings-leader Tigers are tied for the fourth-best record in baseball (.582).

The St. Louis Cardinals, who led Box-Toppers team power rankings much of the season, remain in fourth place overall and second in the NL, with 113.4 Box-Toppers points. They are 4.3 points behind the NL-leading Dodgers, giving them an outside chance to take the NL lead during the final week of the season.

Top 10 teams

Through Thursday, Sept. 19

919

Top 10 Teams

BTP

BTP/wk

Last week rank

1

Tigers

118.9

6.2

2

2

Dodgers

117.7

2.5

1

3

Red Sox

117.2

5.5

3

4

Cardinals

113.4

5.0

4

5

Rays

109.1

5.0

7

6

Pirates

108.6

2.7

5

7

Reds

108.2

4.0

6

8

Athletics

107.1

5.7

9

9

Indians

104.9

5.5

11

10

Rangers

104.0

2.0

8

BTP: Box-Toppers points total. Accumulated points of all players on team in 2013 season.

BTP/wk: Box-Toppers points for the team for the past week, through games on Thursday.

Box-Toppers

Tracking who most helps their teams win the most games, based on box score stats. A method to measure & compare baseball's top players.

Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. Players earn Box-Toppers points for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.